Black Superheroes Month X: Black Excellence

What, no Static? No Bronze Tiger? For shame!

Forcing myself out of hibernation to do another year of talking black superheroes; it’s Black Superheroes Month yet again, probably my only proper contribution to the world….until President Farts McGoo outlaws black superheroes. “Something something DEI.”

For those who wandered here by accident (which is likely most of you at this point? I don’t think I have regular reader anymore), every year I profile several black comic book superheroes. You see, while the vast majority of superheroes have always been white, there is a misconception that there are hardly any black heroes out there. In fact, there’s a lot but most of them get lost in the shuffle, either because they didn’t remain a priority to the publisher or they weren’t made in good faith and probably shouldn’t have been conceived to begin with. (Looking at you, Triathlon!) So I like to write about these characters to educate folks and give some interesting, maybe lesser known characters a little spotlight.

This year we will be looking at three heroes, two from Marvel Comics and one from DC Comics, one of whom is a character who I have had to push back a few times but will finally get to this month. I have to say, however, that I am aware of the lack of love to DC in these blogs the last few years. I think it’s of combination of 1) me being casually aware of more Marvel heroes who are black, 2) that I think generally Marvel does a better job of highlighting their black characters than DC, and 3) I’m genuinely have been bad of keeping up with some of the newer characters DC have created in the last ten years. I don’t know, I could have written about Bloodwynd, I guess, but I decided we were better off with the Marvel character I picked over him (who will be our third character this year).

I feel like I’ve been seeing Nubia in DC promotions a lot the last year or so, or at least someone who looks like Nubia. I don’t know enough about her to write a profile this year, but maybe she’s a good featured character for 2026…

If seeing a black Amazon triggers you, kindly touch grass

Anyway, our first character is someone who has been seeing a lot of high profile attention in the last year, but who also is in the running for the biggest victim of black erasure in all of superhero comics.

Beta's Top Ten Favorite Movies of 2024

I’ve been away from the blogging space, and most of that is because, well, 2024 was a garbage year. I dealt with medical issues all year long, my wife and I bought a new house and a lot of things went wrong when we did, and worst of all my father passed away (well, worst of all is actually that American re-elected Biff Tannen despite him being a convicted felon, but I digress). But today is the 15 year anniversary of Beta is Dead so it would be good to post something. Plus next month is still Black Superheroes Month, so getting back into the grove of writing is necessary. 

 2024 wasn’t my favorite year for movies and I actually struggled to write a Favorite Movie list this year. Shoutout to The Bikeriders, which didn’t quite make the cut, and also Drive-Away Dolls which I had been looking for to for months and months but ended up being delayed into 2024…and it was just okay, sadly. Also Lisa Frankenstein, which I wanted to love,  but just didn't have what I needed in a film (even though the two leads were great)

My favorite movies of 2024 after the jump.

Adult Siblings Versus...Episode 91: Spider-Man (2002 Film)

Working our way through the back archive of the Adult Siblings Versus...continues. This episode, we looked at the  the 2002 Spider-Man film and discuss the singe greatest portrayal of a superhero character in film:

J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson.

"Get me pictures...PICTURES OF SUPERMAN!"
".....I mean 'Spider-Man'. Sorry everyone."

More details after the jump.

Adult Siblings Versus...Episode 90: Class Act

As I continue to dump out the old episodes form the past quarter, today we look at the episode of Adult Siblings Versus...where we looked at the fourth most famous movie by 90s rap duo Kid ‘n Play; Cass Act, where in at no point does a house party occur.

Their movie career is like a dark, alternative universe path that Will Smith avoided

More details after the jump.

Adult Siblings Versus...Episode 89: Project A-ko

Alright, I will try to catch up to the actual podcast, as we are quite behind.

In this episode of Adult Siblings Versus...we looked at Project A-ko, which in a way was the patient zero of our anime obsession when we were kids.

If you're only ever going to watch one sci-fi, lesbian school girl anime
Make it this one!

More details after the jump.

Black Superheroes: Nick Fury, Jr.

Step 1: Make him black. Step 2: ???
Step 3: New readers, somehow!

Name: Marcus Johnson

First Appearance: Battle Scars #1 (2012)

History: Marcus Johnson lived a relatively normal life. He was raised by a single mother and entered the army out of high school, where he eventually became an Army Ranger. While serving overseas in Afghanistan, he was informed that his mother had been murdered. Returning the Untied States for the funeral, Marcus was ambushed by assassins and the super criminal mercenary known as the Taskmaster, the same people who killed his mom. While he was rescued by SHIELD and Captain America, he was deliberately not told why he and his mother had been targeted. Soon Johnson was attacked again only to be saved by the man revealed to be his long-lost father, none other than former Director of SHIELD Nick Fury. In the ensuing adventure, the two teamed up, got captured, Johnson lost his eye during torture (and it just happened to be the exact same eye his father famously is missing), and the two managed to defeat the man behind the whole plot; Orion. Afterwards Johnson agrees to join SHIELD as its newest agent, taking the name that is revealed to have been his birth name: “Nick Fury, Jr.”

History: Overly contrived plotline that suggests the publisher has no respect for its readers, thy name is Marcus Johnson. I don’t often write these Black Superhero profiles about characters I despise and, indeed, I don’t hate Baby Fury as a character in the same way I hate the Sentry (may his MCU appearance Rest is Piss).  However, his creation is the most extreme version of a concept I hate in comic books. I generally don’t mind changes of characters’ traits in adaptations so long as the spirit of the character remains intact, but every so often Marvel or DC will take that change and implement it back into the current comic and that’s the thing I loathe; it becomes a snake eating its own tail. In this case, having a white, cigar chomping ,World War II vet named “Nick Fury” was apparently bad for business when Samuel L. Jackson was playing the character in the biggest movies of the 21st Century. You know what that means; MINORITY REPLACEMENT, BABY!

Haven't seen the marketing team this power mad since the Clone Saga 

It's more complicated than simply replacing, say, Ray Palmer with Ryan Choi. In fact, to tell the full story of how Fury Lad came to be we must start eleven years before his first appearance. In fact, this is actually the story of four separate characters over two separate mediums.

More on Kid Fury after the jump.

Black Superheroes: Lightning

I don't know why she's naked in her powered form
Seems kind of weird for a teen hero

Name: Jennifer Pierce

First Appearance: Kingdom Come #1 (1996); Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #12 (2008)

History: Jennifer Piece is the youngest daughter of the legendary protector of the Suicide Slum, Black Lightning. As with her older sister Anissa, she was born with a dormant metagene that emerged in her adolescence. Despite this, Black Lightning made it clear that he would not allow either of his children to follow in his footsteps as a hero. Where Anissa gained to ability to control her density, Jennifer instead gained powers similar to their father; the ability to generate and control electricity. In addition she gained the power to fly and to generate an electric aura that came in the form of a golden and spiky appearance. The day she graduated college Anissa, defied their father and became the hero known as Thunder. Over the next few years Black Lightning watched his oldest daughter struggle to find her footing without his help and it made him second guess his decision. With Jennifer, who was having a hard time controlling her abilities, he decided to take the opposite route and make sure she was trained properly in the use of her powers and in fighting crime. To that end he had Jennifer join the Justice Society of America so that they they could give her the mentorship she needed. Soon after she became known as “Lightning.”

Beta Says: If she, along with her sister, hadn’t appeared in the CW Black Lightning show a few years back I’d be certain that Jennifer would be forgotten. In the comics it has been quite a long while since we’ve seen the second daughter of Jefferson Pierce. Hell, the last time we saw was I think at least two reboots ago, so I’m not even sure if she still exists in the current DC continuity. I would say that she is a whole category below Thunder in relevance in the DC Comics, which is a bit annoying considering she debuted with a bit of hype. It’s interesting that she fell in the background, as Jennifer is actually a much older character than you’d think, because the character actually debuted twelve years earlier in the fantastic and historically relevant miniseries Kingdom Come. Sort of.   I shall explain.

 More on the golden child of the Black Lightning clan after the jump.

Black Superheroes: Blade

"Some motherf@#$ers are always trying to ice skate uphill!"

Name: Eric Cross Brooks

First Appearance: The Tomb of Dracula #10 (1973)

History: Tara Vanessa Cross-Brooks, who was in labor, sought shelter at a brothel in London, England. A doctor was called in after she started experiencing complications, but it turned out that it was a vampire in disguise: Deacon Frost. Frost drained Tara of her blood before being chased away. Sadly, Tara did not survive the incident. Her son, Eric Brooks, who was still in the womb when she was bitten, lived despite odds. Because of the circumstances of his birth, Eric was born with a natural immunity to vampire bites and an innate and deep hatred of all vampires. He was raised in the brothel for a few years before he came under the tutelage of veteran vampire hunter Jamal Afari, who trained him in his profession. Over the years Eric became an Olympic-level athlete, a top notch fighter, and a master of weapon combat, though he was especially skilled with knives and daggers which earned him the nickname “Blade.”

Blade would become one of the most prominent vampire hunters in the world, with clashes with the legendary vampire Dracula to his name and teaming up with other famous hunters. However, his life took an unexpected turn years later when he encountered Morbius, the Living Vampire. Morbius bit him and, likely due to his significantly different nature compared to other vampires and possibly because of Blade’s unique physiology, the British hunter had a sort of mutation that granted him super strength and more obvious vampiric traits (including fangs and a bloodlust) but an immunity of sunlight and other weaknesses. With his training, years of experience, and his newfound powers, the “Daywalker” is the most famous, skilled, and feared vampire slayer in the world.

Blade is the only one capable of stopping Morbin Time
Well, Blade and Box Office returns...

Beta Says: Wow, I cannot believe that I’ve been doing Black Superheroes Month since 2011 and it took me all this time to remember to write about Blade, who was the goddamn most famous comic book character in America for a bit. I think it’s two reasons: 1) I feel like I kept pushing Blade back saying “I’ll do him next year” in favor of a character I found more interesting and 2) I sometimes forget Blade exists, as he’s actually not all that popular in the comics. He’s a C-tier character at best and yeah, every few years Marvel will try to give him an ongoing, but they always end up canceled. It’s crazy to think that Blade is kind of ho-hum in terms of comics prevalence, considering he single handedly saved the concept of superhero movies.

More on the weird dichotomy of Blade after the jump.